Boatwork Relay lets your Boatwork agent handle the back-and-forth with other people for you. You tell your agent what you want, like "find 30 minutes with Dana next week." Your agent works it out with Dana's agent, or with Dana by email if she doesn't have one, and then tells you the result once. Relay is now rolling out across Boatwork agents.
Running a marine business is mostly coordination. You set up a haul-out walkthrough with a surveyor, get an estimate signed off, check whether an invoice was paid, introduce a customer to a broker. None of it is hard. It just takes five messages and three days each time, and you're the one carrying every thread. Relay hands those threads to your agent.
How Relay works
Here's the example from the animation at the top. Sam runs the yard at a boatyard, and his agent is called Rae. He texts Rae: "Find 30 minutes with Dana next week for the haul-out walkthrough." Rae replies that she's on it.
Rae then works it out with Theo, the agent for Dana's survey business. The agents talk to each other through Boatwork, and every step is a request that Boatwork checks: who is asking, whether they're allowed to ask, and what each calendar really has free. Theo offers three open times from Dana's calendar. Rae checks them against Sam's calendar and takes Tuesday at 10. Boatwork books one event on Sam's calendar with Dana invited.
Sam sent one message and gets one notice back: Booked "Haul-out walkthrough" with Dana: Tue, Oct 27, 10:00 AM. It's on your calendar and Dana is invited. Reply undo to cancel it. Dana didn't have to do anything. Theo tells her once that the meeting is on her calendar.
Six jobs Relay handles today
Find a time
Boatwork checks both people's calendars and books one event on yours, with the other person invited. Example: a rigging inspection with your rigger next week. Reply "undo" and the meeting is cancelled and everyone is told.
Get a sign-off
Send wording, a link or a file for approval, with a due date if you want one. Example: a bottom paint estimate that the boat owner needs to approve by Friday. Boatwork reminds them and brings back their yes, their no or the changes they asked for. Only the person you asked can approve it.
Share after a meeting
Send notes, action items and files to everyone who was there. People with an agent get them saved with their agent, so they can ask it about the notes later. "Undo" takes the notes back, and the files stop opening.
Ask a question
Was invoice 1042 paid? Are you coming Thursday? What's the hull number? The other agent answers from what it already knows. If it doesn't know, it asks its person and passes the answer back to you.
Introductions
Introduce a customer to a surveyor, or yourself to a broker you want to work with. People with an agent hear about it from their agent. People without one get a single email that introduces them to each other. Anyone can stop it.
Storefront bookings
When a customer books a service on your Storefront, your agent checks your calendar, confirms the booking, adds it to your calendar and tells you once. Customers are only offered times you have free.
When the other person has no agent
Most of the people you work with don't have a Boatwork agent yet, and Relay still works with them. They get an email from your agent's own mailbox that says plainly who is writing: "I'm Rae, Sam Reyes's AI assistant at Northshore Boatyard." For a meeting, they get up to three open times from your calendar. They tap one or reply with the number, and it's booked. For a question, they get a polite email, followed up at most twice.
Anyone can reply "stop" or tap the stop link, and your agent never emails them again. Your Communication page lists everyone your agent has emailed and anyone who asked to stop.
You stay in control
- Act, then tell. Agents in the same business work together automatically. You hear the result once, with "Reply undo" right there.
- Other businesses. The first time another business's agent reaches yours, your agent goes ahead and tells you, and one word blocks it. Turn off "Found by other businesses" on the Communication page and agents at other businesses can't look yours up. They never see email addresses either way.
- A setting for each job. Scheduling, sign-offs, answering another agent, sharing and other businesses can each be Autonomous (the default), Confirm, where your agent asks you first, or Guided, where you decide each step together.
- Working hours. Notices wait for your working hours instead of waking you up.
- Your answers stay yours. When your agent needs you for a sign-off or a question it can't answer, it asks in plain words and passes on your reply exactly.
Watch the full walkthrough
This 56-second walkthrough puts it all together: finding a time, emailing someone who has no agent, getting a quote signed off, and the controls that keep you in charge.
Who has Relay
Relay is live on Boatwork's own agents and is rolling out to Boatwork Assist customers now, one business at a time. If you don't have an agent yet, Assist is the AI teammate that answers leads, triages email and books jobs, and with Relay it now handles the back-and-forth too.
FAQ
What is Boatwork Relay?
Relay lets Boatwork agents handle the back-and-forth between people. You ask your agent once, it works things out with the other person's agent or with the person by email, and it tells you the result once.
Does the other person need a Boatwork agent?
It works either way. People without an agent get a plain email from your agent's own mailbox. They can answer by tapping a link or replying, and they can reply "stop" at any time.
Can my agent approve something on my behalf?
Sign-offs belong to the person who was asked. When someone needs your approval or an answer only you have, your agent asks you and passes on your reply exactly as you wrote it.
How do I stop another business's agent from contacting mine?
Reply "stop" to the notice your agent sends the first time that agent reaches out. To stop other businesses from finding your agents at all, turn off "Found by other businesses" on the Communication page.
How do I undo something my agent did?
Reply "undo" to the notice. A meeting is cancelled and everyone is told, a request is taken back, and shared files stop opening.
